Phantom Faces
by Goosefire
Summary: The true identity of the Phantom Ranger


**Phantom Faces**

For those who ever wondered who the Phantom Ranger really was….

It was a firefight and he was loving every second of it. When he morphed and went into action as the 'Phantom Ranger' as those Turbo Rangers of Earth had dubbed him, it was almost laughable. They really had no idea who he was.

When he went without his armor in a civilian appearance, he was very much a face in the crowd; that was to his advantage. He lived on this odd world, a planet named Kellor, and he had a room at the top over what anybody from Earth would have recognized as a near perfect imitation of the creature cantina from the first star wars movie. When he first arrived and saw the place – the odd-looking extraterrestrial mixed with humanoid life forms in pilot suits – he had actually been startled.

After the gunfight, after he had turned in several wanted beings and collected a seriously hefty bounty, the Phantom Ranger returned to his room and thought again how appropriate and ironic the name was: in a very real sense, he was a phantom, modeled after a real ranger; Rita and Zedd really knew what they had been about the day they made him and it never did set well with him that he was real. Of course, the encounter with his original changed something in him, made him real and gave him the ability to question, and ultimately, choose. He had traveled widely after the Rangers had assumed he was no more. The knowledge he acquired from his original had enabled him to develop his own morphing technology and become what he was. He had developed contacts around the galaxy, and if what he heard was true, the other Rangers were getting a lesson in galactic politics back on Earth.

Now there was a joke. The other Rangers learning their planet was not the reason for the universe. They had little or no experience off-world it was hard sometimes to believe they still managed to keep themselves alive and their planet free. Now Zordon was gone and Demetria had shown up. He knew enough about her and her people to know it was a mistake to go fishing for information; they had the annoying habit of answering questions with questions and that was almost rude.

Still, although he kept to himself, he did frequent the cantina for information or simply to be social, another difference between him and his original. And then there was that girl, the new pink Turbo Ranger. Her name was Cassie Chan and for some reason he was impressed with her; maybe it was because she reminded him of the girl his original had been connected with or maybe he really did have his own emotions and was in love: now THERE would be a real problem. He really needed to think about it so he decided to be social.

He went downstairs and ordered a Kellorian Icebreg. As soon as the order was taken several patrons began taking wagers on how long he would be on his feet, or even if he could finish the drink. When it was placed on the bar he took it and looked around. Odd, he thought, that this place could get so quiet for something so commonplace as a man taking a drink. In the worlds he had been to in the course of hunting rogues he had eaten and drunk worse. He decided on some fun.

"I just collected a nice bounty today!" and he mentioned the figure. "Half of it on the bar now, says I can drink this down without pause." The glass was about the equivalent of a 1 liter so they were a bit excited. "Anybody want to test the drink and make certain it's what I ordered?" No surprise, there were no takers. One pilot stepped up. "Here. You mentioned a bounty you collected and are wagering half. I will match your wager if the drink goes down without pause." With that he laid down his bet.

This just kept getting better and better. "You're on." Picking up his drink he saluted the patrons and began to drink; and drink. Amazingly, he did put the whole thing away, but knew he would pay for it later. "Nicely done." said the pilot. "Thanks, but I'm gonna pay for it tomorrow."

Staggering slightly up the stairs, he looked in the mirror. Despite the changes in style and longer hair, it was clearly the face of Billy Cranston that smiled back. Will Robinson thought that was just a great joke.

I know…I stole the character of Will Robinson from another writer who posited the existence of the clone in his own fanfic. I personally think PS was really Billy himself, but he's the Gold Ranger here so I decided his clone had the knowhow to be a ranger if he wanted. If the other writer reads my story I hope he won't get angry that I also took the name he gave the clone.


End file.
